Buy This Road Rally Vintage Volvo So I Don't Have To
Many, many, many years ago I turned down a beautiful old 140-series 70s Volvo selling out of my buddy's neighbor's driveway for $500. Will that regret haunt me forever? Probably! Anyway, please buy this Volvo so I don't go broke.
It's a Volvo 142, which is like a later 240 that everyone and their professor had but it looks cooler.
And it has just about every performance mod you could want on one of these things short of a very big later engine swap. From the SFBay Craigslist listing:
For sale – 1971 Volvo 142S. I've had this car for seven years and it's been an amazing project, but the time has come to pass it on. Lots of rare, new and newer parts have been installed to make it a fun, well-handling and head-turning car that people seem to love. It's also a California car with original blue plates and a clean title. I've driven it all over town and all the way to Bonneville, and it's been a great ride the entire way. Along the way it won IPD's 2016 photo content in the "Best Hooptie" category.I'm asking $4600 and the full list of parts and upgrades can be found below.Rare parts:GT clusterDiscontinued IPD sway barsDiscontinued IPD wheels, 15x7Discontinued IPD front lipEngine and drivetrain:Stock B20Rebuilt headNewer head gasket, water pump, valve cover gasketElectronic ignition (MSD plus Blaster coil)Rebuilt Weber downdraft carb and Cannon intakeNewer starter (have working spare too)Newly rebuilt alternator IPD header into side exit exhaustUpgraded to M410 4-speed+overdrive transmission with all correct driveshaft and supports (have original 4-speed tranny as well)Suspension:Lowered, obviously, but it rides really well.Front: Custom ordered springs (500lb. iirc), newer Bilsteins, full polyurethane bushings, big IPD sway barRear:Cut wagon overload springs, Bilsteins, IPD sway bar, custom adjustable torque rods and panhard bar (to ensure driveline alignment with lowered stance), poly bushingsRolling stock:Discontinued IPD wheels (15x7 and 5x108 bolt pattern) that look like vintage MB Pentas. Plasti-dipped red but they're silver underneath and in good shape overallR-comp tires with decent meat leftBrakes:Stock four-wheel discs with newer pads and lines, fully bled and functional with no leaks. Probably one of the best stopping cars of this era.Steering: Poly bushings, new tie rodsInterior:Rare GT cluster – All functional except for the tach, so I swapped it out with an aftermarket tach. Will include original GT tach, which just needs a rebuildNewer upholstery with no ripsGreat dash, just one crack and covered with a dash padGood door cards, headliner and carpetAftermarket steering wheelRare OEM rubber floor matsOEM rubber mat in the trunk, along with original jack and spare tireBody:Original paint, waxes up well, but has some touch ups here and there, along with some flaking sectionsAll trim, rubber and glass in great shapeIPD front lipEuro headlight, the other is a Lexus fog light/cold air inlet, but I have an extra Euro headlight if you don't like this lookHeadlight cagesHella fogsEarly taillights (red/white/red instead of amber/white/red)Bullet mirrorAll stickers are high quality vinyl and can be easily removed with no damage to the paintTons of spare partsThe bad:Has some rust in the lower rear quarter panel, which actually grew to be a hole, but I've covered it in rust seal and painted it to prevent growthCould use a tune on the carb, but I've done the best I can with the jets that I have on hand. It's very driveable as is thoughHigh miles (over 200k), but these engines last foreverLeaks some oil from the oil pan gasket, nothing too serious
It's loud
Loud? You say that like it's a bad thing.
In any case, the car is wildly affordable and I would probably buy it is I hadn't already just bought a very nice old car out of NorCal and I don't live there anymore.
If you bought it I would stop thinking about moving back to where I grew up and driving this thing around and scaring all the new rich people who live there now. Please. For me.